Organisational Learning Australia

Description

We specialise in Nationally Recognised Early Childhood training incorporating the ideas and insights of Rudolf Steiner.

Teaching and developing early childhood educators (ECE’s) is a challenging task in the current adult education landscape. The nationally endorsed training package has struggled to balance acquiring ‘knowledge’ and ‘practical application’ of skills. Students learn about theories and practices (pedagogy) through a structured ‘left brain’ process of workbooks and classes followed by 240 hours of practical placement. Some workplace experiences are creative and inspiring and some are not. Many adult learning institutions simply teach the test.

ECE’s need to be grounded in pedagogy and their own personal adult learning journey, skill acquisition, creative exploration and impulse/desire to be an educator. ECE’s without ‘creative skills’ struggle to recreate these experiences for children as the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) curriculum emerges in their practice.

We know that skills, knowledge, creativity and adaptability will be central in the economy of the future and OLA offers a tangible link between theory and practice by aligning teaching with the arts and the environment. Early Childhood Education (ECE) is essentially a creative craft and we seek to complement the existing theoretical/work placement model through instruction in creative arts, culture and environmental sustainability.

Did you know that interactions with the environment and the arts are the key drivers to implementing the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF)? Theories about what creativity, aesthetics, environments, sustainability, culture and resources contribute to ECE are less tangible if you have not interacted with Indigenous Australians, explored your own creativity, (for example, storytelling, knitting, doll making, worm farming or ceramics), and this acts as barrier to exploring a child’s knowledge and interest in these domains.